Well said.
“You are not right about everything. Many of the opinions that you hold — and some of the facts that you believe to be true — will turn out to be falsely-held beliefs. Some of them, most likely, have already had their falsehood demonstrated beyond a reasonable scientific doubt. Unless you yourself are a huckster, trying to profit off of the willful deception of others, you must be open to changing your mind and deferring to the genuine experts who know more than you.
Glorified underachieving, proclaiming falsehoods as truths, and the derision of actual knowledge are banes on our society. The world is made objectively worse by every anti-science element present within it. Nobody likes to hear that sometimes, they’re the problem. But sometimes, it really is on each of us to do better. The next time you find yourself on the opposite side of an issue from the consensus of experts in a particular field, remember to be humble. Remember to listen and be open to learning. The future of our civilization may hang in the balance.”
Did you ever have an experience in school where you knew the answer, but didn’t raise your hand because it wasn’t cool to do so? Did you ever get a report card full of good grades, but were afraid to be proud of your achievement? Did you ever hear people proudly proclaiming falsehoods so outrageous that it seemed like people were flouting their ignorance, as though they were proud of it?
The seeds of a scientifically illiterate society get planted when we’re young, and it’s up to all of us to work together to overcome them. Here’s the antidote.
